Category: Direct marketing

You may have heard of Gary V . If you are a digital marketer and you haven’t then you should. Recently he stated that cold calling is dead and that nobody wants to hear from somebody they dont know. I think he is only half right. Cold calling is not totally dead. It has just morphed into ‘warm calling’.

If the objective is to secure a sale/lead/appointment for the sales team or yourself, then sending the value offer directly to the prospect will warm up the prospect before the call is made. Average email open rates are at best 25% in any industry. So my advice is to send them a piece of direct marketing. Just ask Google, they use direct marketing all the time with cute little postcards offering free Adwords credit.

Here is my 5 tips for a successful direct marketing campaign; the planning, the design, the data, the implementation, the balls and the interpersonal skills.

The Planning – Bang heads together and get ideas from the people you work with. You need to come up with the right timing, the targets, the value offer and the right resources. This all needs to be fleshed out at this stage.

The Design – The content must be appealing, inspiring, and provide the WIIFM factor or break the ice factor.

The Data – Is your database up to date and segmented properly. In segmented properly, I mean you have the ability to drill down to a level that gives you laser like focus on your target prospects.

The Implementation – Timeliness of sending and follow-up. It must be within 2 weeks of sending the direct marketing piece. A team or one dedicated person (or yourself) that are switched on to the target audience and what makes them tick. I know some companies use a contracted telemarketing company. This approach can work but caution must be taken that the brief is rock solid from the outset.

The Balls and The Interpersonal Skills – The biggest barrier is not getting the target on the phone or being stopped at reception. Confidence is the key. Never start the call with introducing yourself to the receptionist. The goal is to speak to the target who will listen and remember they got a great letter the other day….because they probably received 100+ emails that week that they have now forgotten about.